Pension and Welfare

The animal kingdom will have lost one of its staunchest defenders when the Oval Office is abandoned by Barack Obama, who through a series of critical, administrative rule-makings has done more to protect animals than any other president in recent memory.

This will be especially devastating if Donald Trump replaces him — not only because of his sons' lust for hunting exotic game, but also because his recently announced agriculture advisory committee includes several active opponents of animal protection policies.

By now, many will have seen the photographs circulating on social media of Eric Trump and Donald Jr. displaying their trophy kills. One shows the two young men posed...

Related "Pension and Welfare" Articles

The animal kingdom will have lost one of its staunchest defenders when the Oval Office is abandoned by Barack Obama, who through a series of critical, administrative rule-makings has done more to protect animals than any other president in recent memory....

Once upon a time, Illinois was capable of fixing big problems with big solutions.
Ask your grandparents about those days. They could tell such stories it would make your head spin.
You might wonder, given the supine indolence of Illinois government...

The City of Highland Park needs to plow $6.4 million into its police and fire pension funds next year, nearly $1.3 million more than was recommended for 2016, according to the latest findings of an independent actuary.
But that wasn't all of the bad news...

In Illinois politics, villains are always easier to unmask than heroes. Villains are scowling, plotting tricksters. Evildoers. Nefarious.
They shoot Alexander Hamilton, both theatrically on the musical stage and in real life.
If Illinois Statehouse...

Praise for the Clintons is sparse these days.
But the 20th anniversary of the former president's signature achievement deserves discussion.
President Bill Clinton's welfare overhaul, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act,...

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approved a $5.4 billion budget that relies on a trio of property tax hikes, the latest in a series of increases Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hit city taxpayers with in recent years.
Buffeted for years by financial...

Senior citizens would get a break on Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed water and sewer service tax, administration officials said Monday as they tried to appease aldermen unhappy with a plan to shore up the municipal workers pension fund.The 66,000 or so...

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool on Tuesday warned that cuts to the classroom would be necessary if teachers don't agree to concessions in a new contract.
Claypool ratcheted up pressure on the Chicago Teachers Union a day after the district...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday is expected to explain his plan for shoring up the largest of the city's ailing pension funds, a move that promises additional pain for taxpayers who were just hit with the first in a series of property tax increases.
...

Chicago's public schools will open on time in the fall and without "any major disruption to our classrooms," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday after state lawmakers passed measures that would ease financial pressures on the district."We have a brighter...

Published in Chicago Tribune on July 01, 2016 — Print headline: "Emanuel says city schools to open on time"

Strikeout: Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz has ruled Illinois' pension reform law unconstitutional.
"The Act without question diminishes and impairs the benefits of membership in State retirement systems," he wrote in a firm, six-page ruling...

Making his first post-election appearance at the Capitol on Thursday, Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner said he hopes the Illinois Supreme Court eventually will provide guidance on what changes are acceptable when it comes to fixing the state's more than $100...

The Tribune's expose on how banks hurt taxpayers by cheating the taxpayer-supported schools was wonderful.
Yes, there should be recourse through the courts like in the other states as cited in Jackson Potter's

A state law meant to crack down on college administrators "double dipping" by retiring and then returning to work is having ripple effects farther down the economic ladder, with community colleges deciding not to hire retired teachers for fear of...

SPRINGFIELD — Senate Democrats on Wednesday began advancing a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2017, though doubts remain about whether lawmakers can muster enough votes to pass an increase before Republican Gov.-elect Bruce...

Despite dissent from a fellow Democrat, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Friday won easy approval for her $4 billion 2015 budget proposal that includes no new taxes, fines or fees.Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, voted against...

Glencoe native Gary Karton, author of the award-winning fantasy adventure book for preteens, "The Last Akaway" (Brattle Publishing 2013), will be talking with north shore elementary- and middle-school students about the importance of reading and...

I am, admittedly, late to the "reform" reform movement.
For my entire career, I have haphazardly sprinkled the word "reform" into my work without much of a thought — criminal justice reform, health care reform, immigration reform, campaign finance...

As a young federal prosecutor, Gary Shapiro was just days from trying his first big Chicago mob case in 1974 when masked men burst into a Bensenville plastics firm and fatally shot Danny Seifert in front of his wife and young son.
At the time, Seifert...

Naperville's top cop will continue to collect both a police pension and his chief's salary.
State officials confirmed Thursday they have dropped their legal battle with Chief Bob Marshall.
"We felt it was important and appropriate to make our argument...